Direct ballot in East Timor to be held on Aug. 7
Direct ballot in East Timor to be held on Aug. 7
JAKARTA (JP): The government has decided to move the scheduled
Aug. 8 direct ballot in East Timor one day forward on request of
Catholic church leaders in the predominantly Catholic province,
Minister of Justice Muladi said on Friday.
Muladi, also the minister/state secretary, said the direct
vote would then be held on Aug. 7 instead of the previous
scheduled date which had been agreed to by Indonesia and
Portugal.
"Aug. 8 is a day off, it is Sunday. We respect the Catholics.
So the direct vote will be held on Aug. 7," Muladi said after
attending the thanksgiving ceremony to commemorate the first
anniversary of President B.J. Habibie's rule at the State Guest
House.
He did not explain whether the government had consulted
Portugal or United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan before
changing the date.
From New York, Annan was quoted by Reuters on Friday as saying
that he has asked the UN General Assembly to approve US$45.7
million for the upcoming ballot in East Timor.
Annan expects this figure will increase to more than $53
million, Reuters quoted the report as saying.
Under the supervision of the UN, the ballot in the former
Portuguese colony will allow the East Timorese to choose either
to remain a part of Indonesia with wide-ranging autonomy or to
move toward independence.
Annan asked the General Assembly budgetary committee to
approve the $45.7 million for 600 staff members, including 100 UN
political officers, 141 field officers and some 400 UN
volunteers, who will be assigned to polling centers and also will
help register people for the ballot.
The UN also will hire 4,000 local staff.
Annan said he expected the budget would have to be increased
by $7.4 million in order to deploy up to 300 civilian police
advisers, but would not know until after meeting with the UN
Security Council next week.
The additional funds would cover 225 four-wheel drive
vehicles, 58 buses and satellite communications.
Some of the money will come from voluntary contributions from
governments. So far, $16.5 million has been contributed with
another $2.3 million pledged for equipment.
Portugal contributed $10 million and Australia has pledged
$6.5 million and said it would lend the UN 12 vehicles and two
helicopters.
The UN has sent an advance team, led by Briton Ian Martin, the
former head of Amnesty International who has worked for UN human
rights teams in Bosnia, Rwanda and Haiti, to prepare for the
mission in East Timor.
All staff members are expected to be deployed by mid-June.
Security during the balloting is a key issue because scores of
people have been killed in the province, mainly by pro-Jakarta
militias, since President B.J. Habibie announced in January his
government's willingness to give East Timor its independence.
The UN civilian police are to advise the Indonesian police on
how to maintain law and order in the province. Under landmark
accords signed by Portugal and Indonesia in New York on May 5,
security remains the responsibility of Jakarta.
Horta
Separately on Friday, Antara reported from Lisbon, Portugal,
that East Timorese independence leader Ramos Horta, who is deputy
president of the proindependence National Council for East
Timorese Resistance (CNRT), said he was ready to go to Jakarta to
meet jailed independence leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao,
CNRT president and commander of the Fretilin guerrillas.
"I've been ready for a long time to meet Xanana Gusmao. The
problem was that Indonesia always rejected my presence. I'm ready
to act on the changes of policy imposed by the Indonesian
government in order to fight for East Timor's independence,"
Horta said in a press statement released in Lisbon on Thursday.
He was commenting on the government's announcement on Thursday
that Gusmao, who is being detained at a special detention house
in Central Jakarta, could meet with senior East Timor
independence leaders, including Horta, as long as the meetings
took place in Jakarta.
Jakarta's decision was announced by Minister of Information
Muhammad Yunus after a closed-door meeting with Xanana at the
Ministry of Justice.
According to Horta, he would use the meeting with Xanana to
talk about basic concepts regarding East Timor's independence and
how to create a peaceful atmosphere in the province.
Asked to comment on Horta's remarks, Portugal-based Professor
Felipe Delfim Santos, an observer of East Timor affairs, urged
Horta to change his attitude toward Indonesia and stop his anti-
Jakarta propaganda.
"Why does Horta continue with his propaganda as if the
conflict in East Timor was solely the responsibility of
Indonesia? He and his Fretilin (guerrillas) also triggered the
civil war in East Timor in 1974-1975, didn't he?" Santos, the
director of the Asian Study Center in Lisbon, said. (prb/bsr)